Sizing-tester



H. G. BOON AND C. A. FOURNESS.

SIZING TESTER.

APPLICATION FILED Aue.23. 1920.

Patented Sept. 20, 1921,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- 6%42/ Ha /pry 50'075/ H. G. BOON AND C. A. FOURNESS.

SIZING TESTER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-23, 1920.

Patented Sept. 20, 1921..

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

umrso STATES Parent. orncs.

HENRY G. BOON, OF APPLE'ION, AND CHARLES ALBERT I OONSIN, ASSIGNORS TOKIMBERLY-CLARK COMPANY, 01' NEENAH, WISCONSIN,

A CORPORATION 01 WISCONSIN.

Application filed August 23, 1920. Serial No. 4053508.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HENRY G. BOON and CHARLES ALBERT FoUnNn'ss,citizens of the United States, residing, res ectively, t A pleton, inthe county of utagamie and tate of Wisconsin, and Neenah, 1n the countyof Winnebago and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Sizing-Testers, of which the following is aspecification.

Our invention has reference more particularly to a device for testingthe character of paper with reference to the degree to which it has beensized, or the amount of sizing required to properly condition the paperfor the particular use for which it is intended.

The sizing of paper is that treatment which renders it more or lessimpervious to ink, and the degree of. sizing required varies accordingto the purpose for which the paper is to be employed. Paper which isinsufliciently sized for printing purposes will absorb the ink and allowthe printing to show through on the reverse side of the paper, and doesnot give a clear out impression of the print, whereas paper which is toohard sized does not take the ink properly and results in a gray printwith a black ridge of ink around the edges, caused by the ink beingpressed out from under the type. Paper that is too hard sized is,therefore, unsatlsfactory because of the character of impression whichit takes and for the further reason that the ink dries on it very slowlyand necessitates slow running of the press toallow time to dry andprevent blurring. It is therefore very important to be able to test theamount of sizing in paper in order to enable the manufacturer 'to securethe proper degree of sizin and also in order to grade the paper and a?-ford the printer a means of ascertaining or knowing the sizingcharacteristics of the paper which he proposes to use.

The objects of our invention are to provide a process and apparatus for.testing the permeability of paper, either before or after sizing, todetermine either the degree of sizing which the paper requires or thecharacter or degree ofsizing which the paper already contains; toprovide a process and apparatus which enables the testing of th clamp;and

paper'to be effected to a high de cc of accuracy; to provide a processor testing paper which ma be readily carried out by an inexperiencequire extraordinary skill; to provide a simple and inexpensive a paratusfor testing paper; and, in genera to provide an improved process andapparatus by which it s P08811318 to quickly and accurately secure inprmation as to the size-taking characterlstics of paper, or the amountof sizing contalned in the paper without the difliculty of rolongedtests or danger of inaccuracy in t e results.

On the drawin Figure 1 is a front view I of a testing devlce embodyingour invention;

Fig. 2, a sectional view thereof on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, an enlarged vertical sectional view of the paper clamp;

Fig. 4, an enlarged sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1, showingthe electricalconnection at one side of-the paper Fig. 5, a diagrammaticview of the wiring connections. 1

Referring to the-drawin s, the reference numeral 1 indicates a cabinetwhich may be of any suitable form or construction, havin an extension 2at the front, at the upper end of which is mounted a housing 4 in whichthe paper clam is held during the testing 0 erations. he paper clamp asshown in i 5 and 6, eac of which has a corresponding cavity 7 thereinada ted to register with one another when the half-sections are placedside by side.

The inner faces of these half-sections are machined so as to fit tighttogether and hold a piece'of paper therebetween during the operation oftesting. These half-sections 5 and rounzmss, or mam, wrs

Specification of ietters Patent. Patented Sept, 20, 1921.

operator and does not re- 3, comprises two half-sections 6 arepreferably made of glass or an?! other suitab e insulating material, andeac plate 8, preferably of co of the cavity 7 and he] in place b a boltwhich projects through the side wa of the half-section and has a nut 10turned thereon. The-section 6, against which clamping screws are appliedfor pressing the sections 5 and 6 together, has a late 11 on the outerhas a per, at the bottom IOO face which is lik wise old in place by' hea bolt 9. Each section has a glass tube 12 projecting upwardly from thetop for ventilatmg purposes, and anipple 13 at the bottom, and eachnipple is connected by a hose 14 with a bottle or jar 15 in the cabinet1, a

separate bottle or jar being provided for each hose connection 14. Thebottles 15 are mounted on a support 16 which is movable vertically inthe cabinet and operated by a stem 17, and normally rests on the sidestrips or cleats 18 so that the jars 15 are below the position of thepaper clamp and drain the compartments 7 in the clamp. The jars 15,however, in the operation of testing,

are adapted to be lifted by the stem 17 to a position such as shown indotted lines in ig. 2, whereby the liquid in the jars 15 is electricalconnection with the plate 11,

which in turn is connected with the plate 8 at the inside of thehalf-section 61 Electrical connection is p the other section 5, througha plate spring 20, which is'positioned in a groove 21 in.the side wallof the housing 4 and mounted in an insulated manner on the side wall ofthe housing 4, as shown in Fig.4 In this manner, the testing blocks 5and 6, when inserted in the housing .4, have the bolt 9 of the section 5engaged with the spring 20, which is insulated from the housing 4,whereas the plate 8 of thesection 6 is connected through the bolt 9 andplate 11 and clamp screws 19 with the housing 4.

In testing the paper, a small piece, as indicated at 22, is placedbetween the halfsections 5 and 6, and when the latter are placed in thehousing 4 and clamped there- 1n, the two compartments 7 of the sections5 and 6 reslpectively are separated by the paper 22. suitable solutionis placed in the jars 15, which is. capable of permeating the paper 22,and when the chambers of the half-sections 5 and 6 are filled wit-h theliquid the latter will gradually permeate the aper 22, and as the paperbecomes saturated will establish an electrical connection between thetwo plates 8, such connection gradually becoming moreperfect as thesaturation of the paper becomes more and more com lete.

An electric circuit 23 is connecte through a transformer 24, with asecondary circuit 25, the terminals of which are connected respectivelyto the binding post 36 of the spring contact plate 20, and to thehousing 4, so that there is a gap in the circuit th ough h rovided withthe plate 8 of housing 4 which ma be completed by the testing block 5--6w en the latter is filled with liquid communicating between the cells7-7 of the sections 5 and 6 respectively. In the circuit through thetesting block is an ammeter 26 which determines the amount of currentpassing through the testing block and thereby indicates' the degree ofsaturation ofthe paper 22 in the testing block. The secondary circuit 25is also provided with a rheostat 27 for regulating the voltage in thesecondary circuit and also has a branch circuit 28 around the testingblock 5-6 and ammeter 26, in which branch circuitis placed a volt meter29, whereby the roper adjustment of the rheostat 27 may e determlned.

The liquid which we prefer to employ in the jars 15 for testing paper isa sizin solution of ten per cent. glycerin and 15/20 solution potassiumchlorid (KCl),-altl 1ough it is possible that other solutions may beemployed.

In the operation of testing, a piece of paper which has been sized tothe proper degree and is satisfactory for a particular purpose, isplaced in the device, and the length of time which it takes for thecurrent to increase to a certain amount, as measured by the ammeter 26,is ascertained, and such len th of time determines the sizing, conditlonof the aper. Using this as a stand-v ard, the con 1tion of other papermay be determined by inserting pieces of such other paper in the testingdevice and observing the length of time which it takes to arrive at thesame reading or measurement on the amme-ter. If it requires the same lenth of time, the sizing condition of both 1s the same, whereas, if moreor less time'is required to reach the same reading on the ammeter, thedegree of sizing of the paper is thus found to be correspondinglygreater or less. The comparison may also be made, if desired, by testingthe standard piece of paper and the paper of which the sizing Icondition is to be determined, both for the same length of time andcomparing the amount of current indicated by the ammeter in each case atthe end of the fixed period of time.

It is very important that in making comparative tests the voltage of thesecondary circuit should be the same in each test, and it is for thisreason that the rheostat is provided-that is, so that the voltage may beregulated to correspond with the voltage at which the standard test ismade, and the volt meter 29, of course, indicates the voltage at whichthe rheostat 27 is set. It is also important that the sizing solutionused in makin both tests should be the same and, furt ermore, thetemperatures of the solution should be the same, as a lower temperaturenotonly increases the electrical resistance but also prolongs the timerequired for saturation, and differences in temperature would thereforeimpair the accuracy of the calculations.

In order to regulate the temperature of the testing liquid,'we provide anumber of lamps in the base of the cabinet, which may be connected witheither the primary or the secondary circuit as desired, the formerconnection being shown in the wiring diagram, and each of these lamps iscontrolled by a switch 31 so that any number of lamps may be lighted forthe purpose of regulating the heat in the cabinet 1.

While we have shown and described our invention in a preferred form, weare aware that various changes and modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the prin ciples of our invention, the scope of which isto be determined by the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. The method of testing the permeability of a substance which consistsin interposin the substance between separate charges 0 liquid,connecting the terminals of an electrical circuit respectively with thetwo charges of liquid, and determining the permeability of the substanceby the saturation thereof as indicated by variations in the flow ofcurrent in the circuit.

2. The method of testing1 paper and like material which comprises camping the paper in a block, introducing a separate char e of liquidinto the block at each side of t e paper, passing an electrical currentthrough a circuit in which the paper and two charges of liquid areinterposed, and measuring the current flowing in the circuit.

3. The method of testing the sizing condition of paper which comprisesinterposing the paper in an electrical circuit, subjecting the paper toa liquid and determining the saturation of the paper by the flow ofcurrent in the circuit.

4. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of means forholding a piece of pa er between a pair of chambers, means for llingboth chambers with a li uid, an electrical circuit having the termlnalsconnected respectively with the liquid in the two chambers, and meansfor determining the fiow of current in the circuit.

5. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of anelectrical circuit having means inter osed therein for containin aliquid and a apted to receive a piece 0 paper in osition to interruptthe circuit and be su jected to the liquid, and means for measuring theHow of current in the circuit.

HENRY G. BOON. CHARLES ALBERT FOURNESS.

